absolutely agree, Kessler is one of the most overated, gutless, players in the league. and bieksa, come on kath, I thought you had more sense than that. bieksa is nothing more than a human pylon.
Leafs. 2013 Short Season
- Thread starter Ironhead
- Start date
They did better than expected and I for one, thought it would be a 5 game series.
Reimer got better and he did his part as the series went on. With this experience he just might turn into a good NHL goalie.
The Leafs need a true number 1 defenseman. Phaneuf does alright with limited ice, but he's no number 1 guy. Some of their defensive youth sure stepped up and showed what they have. The future looks good and we might just see more of them next year.
The glaring need of a top line center became evident when Bozak went down. Bozak is doing well, he could even be a number 2 center, but the Leafs need a true number 1 center.
Grabo played well. He just couldn't buy a goal, but did everything he could and deserves a spot again. Kulimen did well too. They need more secondary scoring and this could be because they need a number 2 center (Bozak). MacArthur was a huge disappointment.
Kessel exorcised his demons and came of age.
Kadri was a bit of a disappointment, but that is his inexperience showing through. With this experience he should be better as should his teammates.
I like the look of Colborne.
They are going to have a good core moving forward.
Reimer got better and he did his part as the series went on. With this experience he just might turn into a good NHL goalie.
The Leafs need a true number 1 defenseman. Phaneuf does alright with limited ice, but he's no number 1 guy. Some of their defensive youth sure stepped up and showed what they have. The future looks good and we might just see more of them next year.
The glaring need of a top line center became evident when Bozak went down. Bozak is doing well, he could even be a number 2 center, but the Leafs need a true number 1 center.
Grabo played well. He just couldn't buy a goal, but did everything he could and deserves a spot again. Kulimen did well too. They need more secondary scoring and this could be because they need a number 2 center (Bozak). MacArthur was a huge disappointment.
Kessel exorcised his demons and came of age.
Kadri was a bit of a disappointment, but that is his inexperience showing through. With this experience he should be better as should his teammates.
I like the look of Colborne.
They are going to have a good core moving forward.
I love the Leafs but was not overly disappointed with the loss. In the end they did much better this year than just about anyone expected. The fact that they came so close(and should have won) makes it hurt a bit, but this is a team that knows how to play as a team and now they have a better idea of what playoff hockey is like.
Hard lessons for young teams often pay dividends down the road.
Hard lessons for young teams often pay dividends down the road.
being a huge bruin fan, you could see over those 7 games in 2010, how inept some of those players on van were. lucic was tossing bieksa around like a piñata for chrissakes, and Kessler, and the other hearless forwards, didn,t step up when they had too. I give the sedins credit, they hung in there as best they could. how many canucks came to the sedins aid, when marchand was having his way with them. NONE nary a one. the kid I did respect was the one that got tossed for the hit on Horton, I thought it was a solid hit, a tad late perhaps, but he,s a solid player.
24 hours later ... I'm still pissed! Although not as much as last night. Tomorrow I'll be over it.
I'm going to rant some more.
This Leafs, got better as the series went on, but not good enough! They had them down, and they should have put the Bruins away.
Sure, we did not know what the Leafs were going to be like, but at the end of game 6, anyone who follows hockey knows from what we have seen of the previous, this Leafs game had a very legit chance of knocking off those Beans-towners in Bossten.
Leafs fell behind, but fought back, got a lead. The Leafs had a lead in 6 of the 7 games played in this series. The Leafs were not second rate, the Leafs were leading.
The Leafs knew who the Bruins were. The Leafs knew who the Bruins were. The Leafs knew who the Bruins were. And they let them off the hook.
:hippie:
You know what, that is what everyone seems to say about Colborne. He looks the part. He can forecheck, and he's not such a bad skater. From what I have seen on Hockey Night in Canada, he has some play making ability, just like a center should have.
Will he put up numbers offensively? In the Marlies this season, he was playing poorly at first, but after his wrist injury healed according to reports, he started to put up good numbers. They were not better than Kadri's with the Marlies, but close to a point a game after his wrist injury.
Lets not forget that Colbourne was a player acquired by Brian Burke. That's what I don't like about this season. It starts off with the firing of Brian Burke, and ends with the loss in game 7 a game they had won but still loss.
Lets look at the players acquired by Brian Burke.
Phil Kessel.
Joffery Lupul.
James Van Reimsdyke.
Nazem Kardi (draft choice)
Joe Colbourne.
Clark Maccarthur.
Dion Phanuef.
Cody Franson.
Jake Gardiner.
Who did Burke exactly trade away for these guys? And Bell Canada along with Rodgers Cable fired his ass.
Those companies are simply hateful. That's Canada for you. Managerial talent not wanted. Yes men wanted. Bootlickers wanted to kiss corporate arse.
Fuck.
I'm going to reply to my own fucking post.
Come to think of it ... outside of that partial list of players acquired by Brian Burke, they were the only Leafs to score in this 7 game playoffs series, outside of Bozak who was a free agent signing but I forget if Burke did that or not.
And those fucking corporate goons fired his ass.
Fucking unbelievable!
:thumb:
With the reduced salary cap slated for 2013/14, the moneyball (or moneypuck if you like) template is crucial. I think the Leafs two most pressing problems are Phaneuf and Grabovski and the approximately 12 million hit per year they represent. I love Grabo and I don't hate Dion, but to me their signings are Burke's two biggest mistakes. In the economics of today's NHL you have to get more return for that kind of scratch.
There's reasonable consensus on upgrades the Leafs require to take the next step. 1A and 1B on the list are center and defense. Even Quick or Lindquist are not going to compensate for our deficiencies there. That's why I find it passing strange that Nonis spent most of his trade deadline efforts trying to land a goaltender.
If we want to move ahead, some big tickets have to go. Unfortunately easier said than done. Lots of teams would want Grabo at 3 mil or so (at 3 mil or so we should keep him) but at around 5.5 over 5 years, that just handicaps the payroll. He's here for a few years unless management can find a mark. Lets pray he rediscovers some scoring touch.
The smartest thing to do would be to move Dion before his contract expires. It's folly to pay him what he's getting but some sucker will likely step up when he becomes a UFA and it would be a mistake to match. If he was still availabe at 3 or 4, that would be workable, resign him. But that aint gonna happen. So trade him and go from there. The supporting cast still needs significant upgrade. Gardiner should continue to improve, but otherwise we're loaded with #4, 5 or 6 guys and no dependable go to's.
If Kadri is going to take the next step to #1, we need a big number two and probably a big number three as well. That's not Grabo or Bozak - or anyone else on our roster for that matter. Someone has to go or at the very least, move over to wing. Somethings got to give and people have to go. It's entirely possible that the Leafs may have to take another step back before they can move ahead.
There's reasonable consensus on upgrades the Leafs require to take the next step. 1A and 1B on the list are center and defense. Even Quick or Lindquist are not going to compensate for our deficiencies there. That's why I find it passing strange that Nonis spent most of his trade deadline efforts trying to land a goaltender.
If we want to move ahead, some big tickets have to go. Unfortunately easier said than done. Lots of teams would want Grabo at 3 mil or so (at 3 mil or so we should keep him) but at around 5.5 over 5 years, that just handicaps the payroll. He's here for a few years unless management can find a mark. Lets pray he rediscovers some scoring touch.
The smartest thing to do would be to move Dion before his contract expires. It's folly to pay him what he's getting but some sucker will likely step up when he becomes a UFA and it would be a mistake to match. If he was still availabe at 3 or 4, that would be workable, resign him. But that aint gonna happen. So trade him and go from there. The supporting cast still needs significant upgrade. Gardiner should continue to improve, but otherwise we're loaded with #4, 5 or 6 guys and no dependable go to's.
If Kadri is going to take the next step to #1, we need a big number two and probably a big number three as well. That's not Grabo or Bozak - or anyone else on our roster for that matter. Someone has to go or at the very least, move over to wing. Somethings got to give and people have to go. It's entirely possible that the Leafs may have to take another step back before they can move ahead.
well.. word on the street is that burke was banging hazel mae and got her preggers. regardless if that rumour is real or false, the fact that only burke was removed and not his entire chain of command leads me to believe it was only burke that was the problem and not the work he has done with the leafsYou know what, that is what everyone seems to say about Colborne. He looks the part. He can forecheck, and he's not such a bad skater. From what I have seen on Hockey Night in Canada, he has some play making ability, just like a center should have.
Will he put up numbers offensively? In the Marlies this season, he was playing poorly at first, but after his wrist injury healed according to reports, he started to put up good numbers. They were not better than Kadri's with the Marlies, but close to a point a game after his wrist injury.
Lets not forget that Colbourne was a player acquired by Brian Burke. That's what I don't like about this season. It starts off with the firing of Brian Burke, and ends with the loss in game 7 a game they had won but still loss.
Lets look at the players acquired by Brian Burke.
Phil Kessel.
Joffery Lupul.
James Van Reimsdyke.
Nazem Kardi (draft choice)
Joe Colbourne.
Clark Maccarthur.
Dion Phanuef.
Cody Franson.
Jake Gardiner.
Who did Burke exactly trade away for these guys? And Bell Canada along with Rodgers Cable fired his ass.
Those companies are simply hateful. That's Canada for you. Managerial talent not wanted. Yes men wanted. Bootlickers wanted to kiss corporate arse.
still sad about the loss but what hurts me more is the fellow torontonians that immediately jump on the anti leafs bandwagons and bashing everything about the leafs again. I can put up with the gloating from our boston peers but fellow torontonians bashing and jeering cuts me much deeper. guess i should learn to be a bit more thick skin heh...
The Leafs did not sign Phaneuf, they acquired his contract in the trade with Calgary.
